this post was submitted on 07 Sep 2025
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Privacy

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I’ve been seeing this more and more in comments, and it’s got me wondering just how big this issue really is. A lot of people feel trapped in apps like Discord, WhatsApp, and Instagram, but can’t get their friends to leave.

It’s really annoying when you suggest trying something new, whether it’s a different app or just not using these platforms so much but sometimes it can feel like no one wants to go first.

So I’m curious, what apps do you feel most trapped in? And have you tried convincing your friends to leave them? What happened? Is it an issue for you, or are you just going along with the flow?

Looking forward to hearing if this is as common as it feels!

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[–] Paulemeister@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What are your thoughts on the privacy of telegram? It has always seemed fishy to me (could just be the prevalent usage of it in conspiracy theory communities though)

[–] bobzer@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'd be thoroughly shocked if the FSB didn't have a backdoor for telegram.

[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml -1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

No one can be sure that there isn't a backdoor for any app... Sorry to say, even open source have weaknesses...

[–] bobzer@lemmy.zip 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Durov is an absolute scumbag though. Russian Elon Musk.

Telegram shouldnt even be in the conversation when there are alternatives like Signal.

[–] Core_of_Arden@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well... I don't trust any companies that works for money - and that's all of them. Now I'm not in some group trying to overthrow the system, so I don't feel so vulnerable - but if I were, I wouldn't be using any app, on any phone.

Telegram is not 100 % safe, and you have to enable encryption too, if you want it. But is Signal safe? Google? Any other app? There's some that feel safer than others - and you have to come to terms with how safe you want to be. If you want to be as safe as possible, you have to do the encryption yourself, on a system that's not connected to the internet, before sending it to someone who can decrypt it themselves on a system not connected. Or you have to use pen and paper, and deliver it yourself - or just meet people and talk to them - without any devices in your pocket.

If you, like me, just want to be able to communicate with you kids, your friends, family and other loved ones, about trivial things - I think you can feel pretty safe with those I mentioned.

That Telegrams owners are Russian (in exile) doesn't matter to me. USA is the biggest spy and snoop on earth. No one is really much worse than the other. I guess it's more important for some, to argue about who is the worst snoop and privacy invasive company/nation/agency and so forth - instead of criticizing everyone who invades their privacy - even their own government.

[–] Paulemeister@feddit.org 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Would you say that it's irrelevant that for example Signal is open source and makes an effort to make the code they run on their servers verifyable? Or that the messenger is made by a foundation? I will have to look into the backdoor allegations in the other thread, if true it should be pointed out in the code. I still think that is preferable to a complete black box like WhatsApp or Telegram

[–] lepinkainen@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

I’m not using it to plan a coup, I’m using it mostly because it has first class bot support and decent clients.

I’ll look into signal again when they get bots